Running News Daily

Beat the heat with these treadmill workouts

Love it or hate it, the treadmill can be an effective tool during numbingly cold winters and sweltering summer days. Try these workouts and tips to add some spice to your indoor running when the heat forces you indoors.

Treadmill tips

It might feel like you’re slogging away slowly, but running on a treadmill eliminates the challenges of wind resistance and surface variation. Adjust the incline to one per cent for all of your runs to account for that. Avoid hanging on to the handrails: they are intended for safety, not for use while you’re moving. Use them to get securely on and off the treadmill.

Try various workouts to keep boredom at bay, and take tips from runners you know who run indoors often. Regular treadmill runners often have great hacks for making the indoor run more interesting (or at the very least, some great Netflix recommendations for your long indoor run).

Incline intervals

With the incline set a 1 per cent, warm up with 10 minutes of easy running

Adjust the incline to 9 per cent for 1 minute, followed by 1 minute at 1 per cent

Repeat 10 times (add more or less depending on fitness and experience)

Cool down with 10 minutes of easy running

800 meter repeats

Warm up with 10 minutes of easy running

Run 20 minutes at a pace you can maintain for an hour

Recover with 3 minutes of easy running

5 x 800m fast with 1 min recovery between

Cool down with 10 minutes of easy running

Remember to take an easy or recovery day after a speed session, and hydrate well, even if you’re running in an air-conditioned gym.